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Neumeister was arrested on the afternoon of 12 July 1962 near to his
office. He immediately requested the elder of his daughters,
Maria Neumeister, to cancel by telegram the tickets which he had
booked for the crossing of the Baltic. He stated to the police
officers who were sent to take him into custody that it had been his
intention to visit the Public Prosecutor's Office the following day
with a view to seeking authorisation for his departure for Finland on
Monday, 16 July.

On 13 July 1962 Neumeister appeared for a few moments before the
Investigating Judge who informed him that he was being placed in
detention on remand (Section 176 (1) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure).

13. On 23 July 1962, the applicant lodged his first appeal against
the order of arrest of 12 July 1962. Emphasising that his firm, his
home and his family were in Vienna, he stated that there were no
grounds for believing in the reality of a danger of flight and that if
he had wished to abscond he could easily have done so before.

The Judges' Chamber (Ratskammer) of the Regional Criminal Court of
Vienna dismissed the appeal on 31 July 1962 for reasons similar to
those set out in the order in dispute. In particular it laid great
weight on the statements of Rafael which, in its opinion, had
definitely worsened Neumeister's position.

The Applicant challenged this decision on 4 August 1962. He
maintained that Section 175 (1) (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure
required a "danger of flight" and not merely a "possibility of
flight", that the presence of such a danger must be determined in the
light of concrete facts and that the possibility of a heavy sentence
was not a sufficient ground to assume danger of flight. It referred
to a judgment of the Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) of
8 March 1961 (Official Collection of the Decisions of this Court,
1961, pages 80-82).

The Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht) of Vienna dismissed the appeal
(Beschwerde) on 10 September 1962. While endorsing the reasoning of
the Judges' Chamber, it added that Neumeister knew perfectly well that
the charges weighing upon him had become more serious after
12 May 1961, that he must expect a heavy sentence in view of the
enormity of the loss caused, and that according to a police report of
12 July 1962 he had carried out preparations for a journey abroad and
had not abandoned them although the competent Investigating Judge had
expressly refused the necessary authorisation. In these circumstances
the Court was of the opinion that a danger of flight must be deemed to
exist.

14. Neumeister filed a second request for provisional release on
26 October 1962. While once again endeavouring to prove the absence
of a danger of flight, he offered for the first time, as a subsidiary
request, a bank guarantee of 200,000 or, at the most,
250,000 schillings (Section 192 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

The Judges' Chamber rejected the request on 27 December 1962.
Recalling that Neumeister faced a punishment of from five to ten
years' severe imprisonment (Section 203 of the Criminal Code) and that
he was answerable for a loss of about 6,750,000 schillings, it took
the view that the deposit of security would not be sufficient to
dispel the danger of flight and that it was therefore unnecessary to
examine the amount of the security proposed.

Neumeister challenged this decision on 15 January 1963. In addition
to the arguments expounded in his request of 23 July 1962 and in his
appeal of 4 August 1962, he pointed out:

- that the amount of the loss wrongfully attributed to him in his
view, had decreased considerably, from more than forty million
schillings (24 February 1961) to a little more than eleven and a half
million (12 May 1961) and was later to fall to 6,748,510 schillings
(decision of 27 December 1962);

- that certain persons detained in connection with other more
important cases had recovered their freedom against the deposit of
security;

- that he had never sought to abscond, for instance between his
release (12 May 1961) and his second arrest (12 July 1962), and, more
especially, by taking advantage of his stay in Finland;

- that only a few hours had elapsed between his appearance before the
Investigating Judge, on the morning of 12 July 1962 and his arrest;

- that this brief interval of time had not left him any real
possibility of annulling the preparations for his journey,
preparations which in any case he did not wish to forgo without
attempting one last approach to the Public Prosecution;

- that he had already undergone more than nine months' detention on
remand (24 February 1961-12 May 1961 and 12 July 1962-15 January 1963),
another factor which, in his opinion, argued against the danger of
flight;

- that all his professional and family interests were centred around
Vienna where, moreover, his wife had just opened a ladies' ready-made
dress shop.

The Court of Appeal of Vienna rejected the appeal on 19 February 1963.
Referring to its decision of 10 September 1962, it observed that the
situation had not changed in a way favourable to Neumeister since
then. It was true that the amount of loss attributed to him had
diminished, but this sum did not include that for which he might be
held responsible in a case concerning the sham export of machines
(Kreisverkehr der Textilien der Firma Benistex). Moreover, it had not
decreased to such a point as to be of decisive influence on the
sentence which Neumeister would have to anticipate in the event of
conviction. From this the Court concluded that the danger of flight
remained so great that even the possible supplying of guarantees could
not be considered (indiskutabel ist) and that such guarantees could in
no way eliminate this danger.

15. Four weeks earlier, more precisely on 21 January 1963, the
Investigating Judge had proceeded to another confrontation between
Rafael and Neumeister who had substantially confirmed their respective
statements of 10 and 11 July 1962. According to the Applicant the
confrontation lasted for about a quarter of an hour. A page and a
half of minutes were taken on this occasion.

16. On 12 July 1963, the same day as that on which he lodged his
application with the European Commission of Human Rights, Neumeister
filed a third request for provisional release to which he added a
supplement on 16 July; he pledged himself to make the solemn
undertaking (Gelöbnis) laid down by Section 191 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure and once again offered to provide, if need be, a
bank guarantee of 200,000 or 250,000 schillings. While reiterating
his earlier arguments, he observed:

- that between his release (12 May 1961) and his second arrest
(12 July 1962), he had always held himself at the disposition of the
Investigating Judge, had presented himself of his own free will before
the latter on five or six occasions to obtain information concerning
the progress of the investigation and had informed him as far back as
March 1962 of his plan to make a journey to Finland;

- that the Austrian railways had authorised him to construct near the
Vienna east railway station, a warehouse worth one and a half
million schillings, a project which he had been unable to accomplish
because of his imprisonment;

- that since the imprisonment no new charge had been uncovered against
him;

- that Lothar Rafael, having made a number of confessions
(Geständiger), was seeking to improve his own lot by casting his guilt
onto others and that his statements were completely uncreditworthy;

- that after more than one year of detention on remand, the assumption
of there existing a danger of flight was no longer plausible.

The Investigating Judge rejected the request of 23 July 1963. He was
of the opinion that the grounds stated in the decisions of
31 July 1962, 10 September 1962, 27 December 1962 and 19 February 1963
retained their relevance and that the documents in the file in
substance corroborated Rafael's accusations against Neumeister.
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